Assembly Approves Restrictions on Trans Children, Evers Pledges Veto
The GOP bills mirror similar actions being taken by the Trump administration.
A striped transgender pride flag is on display as people watch a public hearing on an Assembly bill from an overflow room Oct. 4, 2023, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
After hours of heated debate Thursday, lawmakers in the Wisconsin Assembly approved four bills aimed at restricting transgender rights in Wisconsin.
The debate came as President Donald Trump has focused heavily on gender issues in his first months in office and as some Democrats nationally have grappled with whether their party should moderate its positions on transgender rights.
Gov. Tony Evers is not one of those Democrats. He recently said that he will veto bills that he sees as targeting the LGBTQ community and has vetoed versions of Thursday’s bills in the past.
Wisconsin GOP lawmakers approved two bills that would restrict trans kids from joining K-12 girls’ or university women’s sports teams.
“We are trying to discount the reality of biology, which is amazing to me,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, a lead author of the bills. “We want to show that women can be excellent, just like men, in sports.”
Another bill would bar minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care, which can include hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers or surgery. A fourth would not allow students to go by different names or pronouns without their parents’ permission.
Republican supporters of the bills framed these as protecting kids and their families, while Democratic opponents denounced them as hateful.
“This bill … amounts to an attack on the freedoms of our students and their basic civil rights, ultimately making all students less safe,” said Ben DeSmidt, D-Kenosha, referring to the bills about school sports teams as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
Wisconsin Republicans have supported legislation like this in the past. They also echo actions taken recently at the White House. Trump has signed executive orders limiting minors’ access to gender-affirming care and restricting funds from institutions if they don’t bar people born male from sports teams designated for girls or women.
A spokesperson for Evers referred WPR to comments the governor made at his State of the State Address in January where he pledged to “veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, less inclusive and less welcoming place.”
“I will never stop delivering on my promise to use every power available to me to defend you, protect your rights and keep you safe,” he said in reference to LGBTQ Wisconsinites.
Vos argued that Evers is out of step with public opinion, which has grown more favorable toward restricting certain health procedures on young people and sports participation on the basis of sex. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat widely understood to be eyeing national office, recently came out in favor of sports restrictions, too.
Sports participation on the basis of sex
Two of the bills approved Thursday say that sports teams for women or girls are only for biological females. Republican backers say biological differences between the sexes would diminish female athletes’ ability to shine.
“I want to protect the women and their accolades and the achievements they have and not have something come in that takes those records, takes their hard work away from them,” said Rep. Pat Snyder, R-Weston. “For once, we have to think about the women and represent them.”
Nationwide, the rates of trans students playing on women’s sports teams is hard to measure, but experts estimate it to be relatively low.
But policies like this are widely popular. About 69 percent of Americans say that sports participation should be restricted to a person’s birth gender, according to Gallup.
Wisconsin Democrats on Thursday argued these bills are hateful and would lead to broader societal harms.
“This is one of the most cynical pieces of legislation I can imagine,” said Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland. “We are actually being asked to carve out an exception to anti-discrimination law. We would be, for the first time in the modern civil rights era, legally codifying discrimination against a class of people.”
Rep. Angelina Cruz, D-Racine, cited research showing that expanding access to sports promotes positive traits and doesn’t harm competitive outcomes.
Sports “are meant to foster a sense of belonging and instill values such as kindness, respect, empathy and belonging,” she said. “This bill works counter to those goals.”
But not every Democrat voted against the proposals. Freshman Rep. Russell Goodwin, D-Milwaukee, voted in favor of the K-12 sports restrictions. He did not register a vote on the other bills.
Pronouns in schools and health care
Also on Thursday, Republicans approved a bill that would require school boards to adopt policies to firm up when or how a student may change their name or pronouns at school. That policy would have to include parental permission and a principal’s approval under certain conditions.
They also passed a restriction on the kinds of health care that a minor child can access, barring “gender transition medical intervention” for anyone under 18.
That bill targets health care providers that offer or refer such care, but it has exceptions. Those include treating “medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development,” addressing complications caused by previous gender-related health care, or addressing life-threatening concerns. A provider who violated this law would be investigated and could lose their license.
Republicans argued that children need to time to grow and learn about who they are.
“A child will make decisions only to change them multiple times as they mature. I changed my mind a number of times before deciding on my career,” said Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger. “At least the decisions I made and the changes I made weren’t harming my health.”
“It would be a failure on our part to allow children to make life-altering decisions — decisions that they will have to live with for the rest of their life,” he continued.
Democrats, including Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, pointed to medical research indicating that transgender and gender nonconforming children are more susceptible to poor mental health.
“These are decisions that should be made by physicians, by patients, by their families and their mental health providers, not by us here in this room,” Subeck said.
Wisconsin Assembly approves restrictions on trans kids’ participation in sports, gender-affirming health care was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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